News and notes from the second hour of Friday’s Dolphins practice (please check here for a full recap of the first hour):

▪ Second-year linebacker Mo Kamara left the field, without a limp, walked under his own power through a second practice field and sat down inside an ambulance. His ailment was not immediately known, but the team said he is OK. Offensive lineman Jalen McKenzie, son of former Dolphins executive Reggie McKenzie, walked off gingerly late in practice. He signed earlier this week.

▪ Here’s what happened in red zone drills that began just before 10 a.m. Friday: Linebacker Tyrel Dodson stopped Tyreek Hill on a running play for a 1-yard loss.. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks then stopped De’Von Achane at the line of scrimmage; and Zach Sieler sacked Tua Tagovailoa. Touchdowns finally followed. Jaylen Wright showed good strength on a 5-yard TD run... Tyreek Hill then scored on a 5-yard TD throw from Tagovailoa, beating rookie cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. in coverage.... The two-TDs-in-a-row streak quickly ended when defensive lineman Matt Dickerson stopped Ollie Gordon II for a 5-yard loss....

Linebacker Willie Gay Jr. pressured Zach Wilson, forcing an incomplete pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, with Jordan Colbert in coverage. Gay has had a stupendous camp... Linebacker Cam Goode, who has had a quiet camp, knocked down a Wilson pass at the line of scrimmage... Quinn Ewers hit undrafted rookie Theo Wease Jr. for a TD in red zone drills. Wease has been the best of the Dolphins’ four undrafted rookie receivers... Goode had a sack on Ewers, who threw the ball anyway; rookie safety John Saunders Jr. intercepted it. This was Ewers’ second pick of camp if you could count it as such. Tagovailoa hit Waddle for a 4-yard gain, beating Duck.... Grayson Murphy forced Wilson out of the pocket, but Wilson made a nice throw to Erik Ezukanma.... Tagovailoa couldn’t connect with Achane in the end zone; Minkah Fitzpatrick had tight coverage. Wilson threw away a pass on a play in which Jack Jones and Mike Hilton had good coverage on Tahj Washington. Another play of the day alert: Cornerback Jones then leaped in front of Westbrook-Ikhine to intercept a Zach Wilson pass. That ended red zone drills.

11-on-11 drill highlights Here’s how the day’s second set of 11-on-11 drills went: Tagovailoa hit tight end Julian Hill for a 6-yard gain... Jordyn Brooks and Jaelan Phillips stopped Achane for a 2-yard gain... Tagovailoa had a 10-yard completion to Waddle, beating Kendall Sheffield... Achane followed with a 6-yard run... Tagovailoa dumped off a pass to Pharoah Brown for a 10-yard gain.... Wilson then replaced Tagovailoa and hit Westbrook-Ikhine for a 10-yard gain and then hit Tanner Conner for a 6-yard gain.... Another play of the day alert: Wilson hit Conner for a 26-yard TD and it appeared as though safety Jordan Colbert got a hand on it... Quinn Ewers overthrew a pass to rookie receiver AJ Henning... Alexander Mattison showed good burst on an 11-yard gain. He has a bunch of double-digit runs in camp.... Grayson Murphy tipped an attempted screen pass from Ewers to Ezukanma, and the ball fell to the ground. In the third set of 11-on-11 drills, Phillips stopped Wright for a 1-yard gain... Wright had a 10-yard run. Impressive play alert: Storm Duck then had great coverage on an incomplete pass from Tagovailoa to Tyreek Hill.... Mattison ran hard for an 11-yard gain.... Jason Marshall Jr. had good coverage on a deep Ewers throw to Eskridge, a play that was incomplete. Red zone drill highlights Alec Ingold had his second drop of the day, on a red-zone pass from Tagovailoa... Achane caught a short pass from Tagovailoa and ran for a 10-yard score... Phillips sacked Tagovailoa, who threw the ball anyway to Julian Hill for a touchdown.... Tagovailoa then hit Hill for Hill’s second red zone TD of the day, a four-yard play.. Conner gained a few yards on a jet sweep.. Ollie Gordon II scored a 10-yard TD up the gut... Wilson threw behind Achane, who was wide open for what should have been a touchdown.... Wilson hit Dee Eskridge in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown....Wilson then hit Brown for a 10-yard TD. Willie Gay Jr. then knocked away an Ewers pass to end red zone drills. Gay has been a star throughout camp.

 

MIAMI DOLPHINS Dolphins’ McDaniel addresses personal and personnel issues. Kohou spot filled

By Barry Jackson Updated August 1, 2025 9:40 AM

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel mentioned at the end of last season that fining players for tardiness did not work in some cases. So did McDaniel — who is naturally a pleasant, amiable fellow — give any thought this past offseason to becoming more of a disciplinarian and a screaming tyrant, something he has not done? “You’re damn right I thought about it!” McDaniel cracked. But if he did, it did not result in a significant change in his demeanor with players. “If you are doing your job, you are assessing how you do things and how you receive things,” he said. “There are a lot of scars with professional athletes. To gain their listening, you have to earn their trust. It has been noted how I earn trust with players.” McDaniel has continued to try to earn that trust with a calm, uplifting approach. Several players, including tight end Tanner Conner, said McDaniel has not changed, with Conner noting that the team dumped players who didn’t show the coach enough respect. But, McDaniel said his measured approach is “not to be confused with setting our expectations and delivering those. Putting together the right group of people, it is very easy to hold players accountable.” McDaniel suggested that yelling more at players would not gain the desired affect. “In the vein of an adult temper tantrum, I would not be motivated by those things [as a player],” he said. “I am motivated by molding players and creating a winning football team. I’m the best version of me.” McDaniel addressed other issues:

▪ The Dolphins opted not to bring in another cornerback to fill the roster spot of Kader Kohou, who went on injured reserve. Kohou will miss the entire season. Miami used the roster spot to rehire rookie undrafted quarterback Brett Gabbert, who was released last month. Gabbert will give the Dolphins a fourth arm in training camp, joining Tua Tagovailoa, Zach Wilson and Quinn Ewers. Gabbert, who went undrafted in April, had 80 touchdowns and 30 interceptions in six years at Miami of Ohio. Asked if he and general manager Chris Grier plan to bring in any of the handful of proven veteran cornerbacks still available — at least for a visit — McDaniel was noncommittal but said “we are constantly trying to improve the team... The way players are developing, I have more than enough to keep my attention.”

▪ Asked if he has thanked Zach Sieler for not holding a hold-in and instead practicing fully while he seeks a new contract, McDaniel said: “His actions speak. His teammates very much recognize how Zach plays football and contributes to the building every day. Zach understands as a leader, he’s trying to show guys how he wants teammates to play football.”

 

He’s been from all accounts awesome in practice. I think he has a high upside and this defensive line is going to be a problem for a lot of teams.